Things are looking fantastic for the Kansas City National Women’s Soccer League, as the city announced in October that plans to build a $70 million privately-financed stadium is underway with the NWSL team as the primary tenant. This is a first for the league. The 11,000 seats stadium will take a few years to become a reality however. We can expect it to be complete by 2024. Later the same month, the team announced their plans for a $15 million privately-financed training facility in Riverside, Missouri.
And then one another change followed; a pretty big, momentous one.
Kansas City NWSL will now be known permanently as Kansas City Current.
#TealRising
The league’s permanent branding is not just a new name. They donned new colors and crest at their debut game at Legends Field. The team played their debut season as Kansas City NWSL. But during the second half of the game, they unveiled their new crest and donned a fresh design utilizing teal, red and navy colors. A video soon came out with the hashtag ‘TealRising’, and it really convinces you that the Kansas City Current is flowing towards a great future.
The crest looks awesome showing “KC”, with a river graphic and two stars possibly representing our River that partially separates the two sides – Kansas City and Missouri; the two stars. The two stars also serve as a reminder of FC Kansas City’s two NWSL championships. The original FC Kansas City was eventually replaced by Utah Royals FC, which was subsequently replaced by the KC NWSL, now known as Kansas City Current.
The team went under KC NWSL and KC WoSo (shorthand) throughout the season in 2021 and, following the folding of Utah Royals FC, decided to take some time for permanent branding.
“Every element is meticulously designed to tell the story of who we are, how we play and what we represent as a club. I can’t wait to celebrate the championships that will be won with our team wearing and representing this new brand.”, said co-owner Brittany Matthews. KC Smokz is also excitedly looking forward to the team winning championships in their new colors.
“From moment one, we knew the deep importance of our brand announcement and how critical it was for us to select a brand that our community could be proud of and rally around,” co-owner Chris Long said. “Most notably, the time we spent researching and listening to our fans, our players and our community was the foundation for us to make this decision.”
Though the team struggled a bit to deliver this season resulting in a last place finish, the owners are committed to the future of the team evident from the decision to build a $15 million private training facility.
Kansas City Current will play home games at Children’s Mercy Park in 2022, as the new stadium will be ready by 2024. And we can’t wait to watch the game, with high hopes for the rebranded team and their future.